Copart Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CPRT)

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 2,944 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 32% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,233 call options.

Copart Stock Performance

NASDAQ CPRT traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.73. 2,553,709 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,573,211. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.58 billion, a PE ratio of 40.09 and a beta of 1.22. Copart has a 1-year low of $38.53 and a 1-year high of $58.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.41.

Copart (NASDAQ:CPRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The business services provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Copart had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 33.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Copart will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Copart news, Director Matt Blunt sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $5,106,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Copart news, Director Matt Blunt sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.06, for a total value of $5,106,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas N. Tryforos sold 285,000 shares of Copart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.27, for a total value of $15,751,950.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,934,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 985,000 shares of company stock worth $55,519,950. Corporate insiders own 10.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Copart

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Copart by 100.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 97,512,662 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,201,821,000 after buying an additional 48,891,984 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Copart by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 39,803,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,715,114,000 after purchasing an additional 19,576,719 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Copart by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,419,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,049,551,000 after buying an additional 207,349 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Copart by 84.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,929,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $772,568,000 after buying an additional 8,205,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Copart by 79.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,359,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $748,006,000 after acquiring an additional 7,666,881 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CPRT has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Copart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Copart from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Copart presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

About Copart

Copart, Inc provides online auctions and vehicle remarketing services. It offers a range of services for processing and selling vehicles over the Internet through its Virtual Bidding Third Generation Internet auction-style sales technology on behalf of vehicle sellers, insurance companies, banks and finance companies, charities, and fleet operators and dealers, as well as individual owners.